Friday, August 17, 2012

Quote of the Day

"(We have) completed a thorough review of each of Fareed Zakaria’s columns ... and we are entirely satisfied that the language in question in his recent column was an unintentional error and an isolated incident for which he has apologized."

-- Time Magazine on its decision to reinstate Fareed Zakaria after he admitted and took responsibility for a column in the magazine that plagiarized a recent article in the New Yorker

You know, I like Fareed -- he's a pretty bright guy. But I'm not sure I've ever read anything more thoroughly full-of-shit than the above quote from Time. The fact that he wrote a column that featured a good portion of language stolen, almost word for word, from somebody else's material is either "an unintentional error" or "an isolated incident" he needed to apologize for. It can't be both.

For the record, you have no idea the grammatical hoops news managers jump through when they're forced to write retractions. An ostensible admission of guilt is one of those things that's carefully crafted and then not touched by any of the underlings who might screw it up after the lawyers go over it and deem that it covers the outlet's ass legally without actually apologizing for doing anything wrong. I'll call what Time did a kind of retraction. And as usual it's a sight to behold -- a masterful example of unmitigated bullshit.

By the way, a lot of great quotes today so there will be more to come.

I knew a kid who got tossed from college a couple weeks from graduation for having a couple notes scribbled on his forearm. Sure would be nice to live in a world with no consequences for bad behavior; other than an occasional brief public shaming.

There is a preposition in the middle of the sentence in the quote by Time Magazine for a good reason. It meant that the apology is the isolated incident, since errors by Fareed are so extremely rare.

In other words, Fareed is qualified to mentor Joe Biden when it comes to making gaffes. Rumors have it, Fareed is not actually suspended. He's really on secret assignment to giving Joe Biden gaffe avoiding lessons.

I'm a former network news producer and manager, the media editor at The Daily Banter, and a writer who's been featured in The Huffington Post,The New York Observer and The Village Voice. I'm also the author of a book called Dead Star Twilight and the founder of DXM Media, a firm specializing in television production as well as social media strategies and consulting. On top of all that crap, I'm the co-host of "The Bob & Chez Show" podcast and radio show with Bob Cesca. To find out more about me and/or throw money at me, go here. You can contact me at deusexmalcontent@gmail.com or chez@dxmmedia.com. Follow me on Twitter at @chezpazienza.

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